Button and button fastener



m. '6l8,868. I Patented Feb. 7, I899. n. A. HALL.

BUTTON AND BUTTON FASTENER.

(Application filed Jan. 12, 1898.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES INVENTO/i A) A Tram/Er Tn: Nam-us PETERS cc. PHOTO'UTHOL-WASHINGTON. v2.1:v

STATES ROBERT ALLISON HALL, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO EDW'ARD A. GRIFFITH, OF SAME PLACE.

BUTTON AND BUTTON-FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 618,868, dated February '7, 1899.

' Application filed January 12, 1898. Serial No. 666,460. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT ALLISON HALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore city, in the State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Buttons and Button-Fasteners; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, Which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in buttons and button -fasteners and to that class of buttons which are secured to the fabric by multipronged fasteners penetrating the same; and it consists of the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional view of my device taken through A B of Fig. 2, showing the button, the fabric, and the fastener rigidly secured together. Fig. Zisaplan View showing the button attached to a fabric. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a modified form of my invention, whereby somewhat of a flexibility may be had in the attachment of the button to the fabric, and is somewhat similar to the view shown in Fig. 1, it being asectional View of the button, fabric, and fastener loosely secured together. Fig. 4 is a sectional view somewhat similar to that shown in Fig. 1, excepting the securing together has not been accomplished. The view is that of the button, the fabric, and fastener before being secured to one another. Fig. 5 is a plan view of a fastener having four prongs. (Two prongs will hold in some cases as well as four.) I do not limit myself to any number of prongs, however.

Similar numerals refer 'to similar parts throughout the several views.

1 is the button-body.

2 is the shank attached to button-body 1 and consists of the contracted section 3 and enlarged section 4, which enlarged section 4 is formed by flanging outward the end of said shank 2.

5 is the head of a fastener having a plurality of prongs 6 projecting therefrom substantially parallel with one another.

7 is the fabric to which the button is attached.

In the form of button shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 4, 8 is the clenching-die, formed integral with the said button-body and of such a shape that the parallel prongs of the entering fastener are turned inward and toward the said contracted section 3, thereby clenching the same over the said enlarged section 4. It may be desirable to cover some of the-button with cloth, and this I have shown in Fig. 3, the cloth 9 being secured in place by cap 10; but this cloth covering I do not claim herein. The button may also be made of more than one piece.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The button, the fabric, and the fastener'are placed as shown in Fig. 4. The fastener is then driven through the fabric and onto the die contained in the button, and by continuing the forcing process the ends of the prongs are clenched, as shown in Fig. 1, if a rigid construction is desired, or, as shown in Fig. 3, if a flexible construction is desired.

I am aware that pronged fasteners have heretofore been used, and also that buttons with enlarged shanks have been used. I therefore do not claim such a combination broadly; but

What I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination with a button, consisting of a body and a shank attached to said'body, the said shank having an enlarged section and between said enlarged section and said body to which it is attached a contracted section to engage a multipronged fastener whose entering prongs are substantially parallel after their points pass externally the enlarged 0 section of the said shank, the said body being shaped so as to -curl said points toward said contracted section of said shank thereby clenching the same over the said enlarged section of the said shank, of a multipronged fastener which penetrates the fabric to which it is attached and clenches over the said enlarged section of the said shank, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT ALLISON HALL. 

